As the country’s largest manufacturer of commercial and automotive polyurethane foam products, Uratex not only became the most prominent player in the local foam industry but also one of the leading foam-makers in Southeast Asia.
Making it this big in the industry is one tough feat for a company that used to do its business in a small factory whose outdoor office was located under a Santol tree.
In 1968, Robert Cheng established Polyfoam Chemical Corporation. The then-21-year-old entrepreneur was faced with challenges like technical know-how in foam production and lack of financing since they have no credible business profile yet so they could borrow from banks. However, with his and wife Natividad “Naty” Cheng’s combined entrepreneurial spirit, their resourcefulness, never-say-die attitude, diligence and hard work paid off in the long run.
To penetrate the market looking for a value-for-money foam mattress, the company focused on marketing their high-quality blue foam called Uratex, and gave it a 5-year—or a high 15-year warranty for some mattresses—against sagging or crushing. From there, Uratex gained the trust of Filipino consumers.
Because of their strong entrepreneurial spirit, the couple also saw business opportunities in other markets. They diversified by making related products like adhesives, plastic furniture and food containers, bed springs and fabrics. They even sold high-grade Uratex foam to the automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturers) industry and became a supplier of car seat foam to car makers since 1975.
Looking back, however, the company’s success for more than 4 decades doesn’t really have any secret formula. It’s all about keeping an uncompromising commitment to product quality and excellence, sound financial management, and inspiring people skills. These and a collection of qualities and technologies, known as “Quali 5 Cellular Technology,” ensure that Uratex foams are produced with a high degree of product superiority and world-class quality.
Under the tenets of “Quali 5,” the company observed a “strong adherence to quality” in order to deliver excellent products to the market with sincere intention to provide customers with only the best. With an exhaustive “quality assurance” system in place that observes strict International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-based standards, consistency is achieved in order to ensure that their products continue to be reliable and dependable at all times.
The company is also only the second in the world that uses “world-class, state-of-the-art equipment” like the Hennecke Multiflex technology from Germany, a brand used by the world’s best foam-makers that conforms to the strictest global standards. Over the years, investments in new technologies allowed them to further gain operational excellence, manufacturing best products at the most affordable prices.
And to keep pace with advancements in production, Uratex dedicated itself to developing a “world-class formulation and processing engineering technology,” where the company’s Foam Research and Development (R&D) and Process Engineering departments are constantly trained by world-class and renowned industry experts. Quality is also further ensured as the company only uses “the best raw materials” from global suppliers such as Bayer, BASF, Shell, Dow, and Mitsui.
With this commitment to quality, it was no surprise that Uratex reaped many accolades, like the five consecutive Platinum awards for Most Trusted Brand since 2009 under the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey, a difficult feat to achieve. Even Mrs. Cheng also proved her management mettle, which earned for her the prestigious “MVP Bossing 2012” award, given out by no less than business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, popularly known as “MVP,” to outstanding Filipino entrepreneurs.
To date, the company that started under a santol tree grew to become what is now known as the RGC Group of Companies—composed of RGC Textile Manufacturing Corp., Roberts Automotive and Industrial Parts Manufacturing Corporation, Inoac Philippines, a joint venture with Inoac of Japan, and the RGC Foam Group, composed of Polyfoam-RGC International Corporation, Multiflex RNC Philippines, Inc., and Polyflex Industries. These companies and its 16 world-class plants are responsible in bringing to the Philippine market high-quality and high value-for-money foams and other products nationwide.
Yet amid all these developments and triumphs in business, the spirit of kindness, compassion and generosity remain institutionalized in Uratex’s culture when it comes to doing business, through their various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts. The company realizes that there are people out there who have less in life and so with a caring attitude, Uratex and its people find meaning in their existence by continuing to be humble, give back and always be thankful for all the blessings that went their way. It is their sincere way of helping out and making a difference in the lives of others because Uratex believes that they should also be a blessing to those who may have been a blessing to them.
However, it cannot be denied that the production of the first block of blue Uratex foam is what started it all, and for the coming years, Uratex assures that it will remain steadfast in providing customer satisfaction, quality, technology, market share, and dedication to world-class excellence through its quality mattresses for Filipinos’ well-deserved sleep that translates to a healthy body and a sound mind, and its other products that make the Pinoys’ 21st Century home a place every Filipino family can be truly proud of.
And for Uratex, that is all that matters. For more about Uratex and its array of foam and mattress products, go to www.uratex.com.ph or call their Customer Hotline at 888-6800.
